Three's A Crowd
by Anna Yukihira
Summary: When Arceus created the universe, he made it far, far too easy to fall into a love triangle.


Dia loves her. He's loved her since the beginning.

But that doesn't matter, because you can't stake claims on a heart. Unfair as it may be, first and last have nothing to do with love. It's not a line, there's no first come, first serve. It's a lottery and sometimes another guy gets more tickets than you. Sometimes the results are already rigged in another person's favor.

He'd kept hoping right until the very last moment. He'd kept hoping right until he saw the look in her eyes.

He can't even hold a grudge against the guy, because the guy in question is his best friend, Pearl, the tsukkomi to his boke whose force of will always carries him far. And it looks like this time his stubborn willpower has carried him into Platinum's heart. He sees it in the way she smiles at him, which has a happy, slightly shy note that is only present when Pearl's around. He sees it in the way her eyes light up whenever she hears him speak.

So it doesn't matter that he's loved her since before he even knew her name. It doesn't matter if he thinks he'll never love someone else. All that matters is that Pearl, Pearl and not him, is the one Platinum fell in love with.

Pearl, for all his intelligence, is incredibly dense. He's not sensitive to emotions the way Dia is. That's why Dia's fairly certain that Pearl hasn't noticed at all. And that breaks his heart, because now they're trapped in a love triangle composed of the food-loving boy who hides his pain, the high-class girl who finds it hard to be honest, and the oblivious boy who can't see the tension.

He's tired of it.

He's sick of seeing them go around and around in circles, with Platinum trying to get closer to Pearl, Pearl making excuses to leave them alone together, and Dia trying to keep out of the whole mess to give Platinum a chance to confess. Fate would easily, perhaps even amusedly thwart their clumsy but earnest attempts, and they would be left back where they started.

So in the end, he drags Pearl out to an alley that's as grey and filled with trash as his heart, and asks him if he's in love with Platinum.

His eyes widen and he questions, with the confusion obvious in his voice, "Why are you even asking about this? Platinum's _yours_." And it was so clear that he truly has no idea about any of this and would never even dream of making a move on his best friend's crush that Dia nearly cried. How could Pearl be that much like one of those old-fashioned, chivalric heroes?

He explains in no uncertain terms that, while he may be in love with Platinum, she's in love with _him._ Then he asks again if Pearl's in love with her.

Long moments pass in silence as Dia waits and waits and prays that he says yes, because he doesn't want Platinum's heart to be broken the way his was. He prays and prays and soon falls into a world of his own making, in which he is the only one who exists, him and his thoughts.

And then the spell is broken when Pearl answers at last, his voice shaking ever so slightly.

"I don't know."

Dia can only stare at him in disbelief. He doesn't _know_? How can that even be freaking possible? Either he loves her or he doesn't. Which is the truth?

"I'm not good with emotions like you, Dia," Pearl continues. "I can't identify what I feel very well unless it's something simple, like happiness or anger or impatience." He cracks a slight smile at that. "So I don't know if what I feel towards her is love. I really don't."

Dia's mind is swirling with thoughts that are disjointed and don't make any sense. He leaves the alley without a word.

Pearl's voice never shakes. It just doesn't. It's a fact of life, similar to how Dia will always love eating. Pearl is confident, rash, impulsive, with a thousand plans in his mind, who always knows what to do. That's why it scares Dia to hear the way his friend's voice cracks. That's why he knows Pearl isn't lying and doesn't speak to him any further.

He confronts Platinum instead, and tells her that if Pearl won't make the first move, she'll have to. She tries to deny it at first, but quickly gives up the act. Maybe it's because she can tell how serious he is about this when he calls her out on her BS with uncharacteristic bluntness.

She admits her feelings in a soft whisper that's almost drowned out in the rhapsody of noise they call the city. The sound of cars honking and the voices of strangers is the orchestra to the story she narrates, which goes back to when they first met.

Her first impression of Pearl was not favorable. Indeed, she thought him almost arrogant. But he had the skills to back up his bravado, and she soon realized there was far more to him than the hotheaded persona that was so frequently on display. He had depths, many depths that ran to his very roots.

Dia doesn't need her to tell him this. He already knows about everything she's saying. He's not Pearl's best friend for nothing.

She continues on, and his mind wants to tune it out. But he can't. He savors every word that comes out of her mouth and tries to pretend that those words aren't praising his best friend to heaven and beyond. He doesn't need to know the extent of her ardor.

Finally, she finishes and asks for his advice. And it hurts because she's looking at him the way he's always wanted her to, like he's some kind of god who can give her everything she needs, but it's for all the wrong reasons. It's all screwed up.

Arceus has a twisted sense of humor.

"Go," he tells her, and forces a smile onto his face. "Go. Be brave." Platinum gives him a smile that contains so much gratitude that he can barely hold onto his mask. Then she's gone, and all he can think about is what could've been.

Dia avoids them for the next week. He wants them to have some time to themselves. Besides, he doesn't want to see it happen. He doubts that he could stand the events playing out right in front of him without breaking down.

That doesn't mean he can escape the aftermath.

He's walking down the street with Pearl, rehearsing their newest routine, and he spots a distinctive white hat in the crowd. He nudges Pearl and points. Platinum is going down a deserted side street.

"Hey, wait up!" Pearl calls out, running up to her. She looks up at him and smiles, and he smiles back. It's a little different than his normal grin, though—just as genuine, but not so big that it consumes his face. It's a little shy, a little gentle, and rather sweet.

Then his hand reaches out and touches hers lightly. She takes it hesitantly and they continue walking together.

Dia watches on.

And his heart is breaking, breaking, dissolving into nothingness, consumed with sorrow and a little relief, because he's happy that Platinum is happy, and he's glad that the moment has come and he doesn't have to keep waiting in agony. But it also means his slight, slight chance has disappeared, his faint little candle of hope has been snuffed out.

He has to remind himself that he set this up, he made it this way, and maybe if he'd left things as they were, Platinum would've given up on Pearl and fallen in love with him. He chose this. He _chose_ this.

It doesn't stop the pain from coming. It doesn't stop him from collapsing on his knees, crying and screaming and banging his fists on the cold, cold ground until his knuckles are raw and bloody.

He needs to vent now. He can't do it while Pearl or Platinum are around, because they're smart enough to figure out why he's like this and then they'll feel guilty. He can't have that.

He's become a walking corpse, with dragging feet and lifeless eyes. His heart is crumbling to dust, fine grains of worthless debris that can be scattered by the slightest wind. He's a pitiful, broken mess.

But it's a happy ending.


End file.
